


Snowblind

by MisMisto



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: AU: nuclear winter, F/M, Headcanon: Maxson's so emotional when he's in love it hurts, I know its blind betrayal but let them be goofs !!, Implied Sexual Content, Non-Canon Relationship, SS definitely sees Nate in him, Self-indulgent confusing fluff, They’re kinda like a married couple at this point, self-indulgent BoS fluff, some Canon Dialogue, will add more tags if I continue!, yes he is definitely pisces, yes it was maxson's birthday the other day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 15:56:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16977576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisMisto/pseuds/MisMisto
Summary: " 'Do you have anything you wish to tell me, Knight?'...The Knight outright flinched at his tone."Set during the events of Blind Betrayal. Knight Bellamy has to make a decision, and her day gets progressively worse. (A reupload and rework!)





	Snowblind

 “Knight Bellamy, Sir.”

The Elder’s blue gaze over the Commonwealth broke with the knight’s voice and he felt himself slouch instinctively as her presence filled his space. He’d never notice just how much he was straining himself standing uptight like a stone statue, with the burden of his duties tense on his shoulders, until he had finally relaxed and the knots untangled.   

He stood there for a moment, hesitant, then he turned his head to look over to her. He huffed out something akin to a chuckle despite himself at the sight of the Knight wearing layer upon layer of clothing under a baggy Brotherhood uniform in an attempt to block out the February cold raging below, resembling a rather petite meatball. Her thin hands were rosy from the cold despite her gloves, her auburn hair was ruffled with a fluffy beret stuffed onto her head and her nose a ridiculous bright red. He frowned. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Do you have anything you wish to tell me, _Knight_?” he said, intending his voice to cut as he usually would, but felt something in his chest give out when Grace _flinched_ at his tone.

“What? No.. No sir, I don’t have anything to hide-..”

“Is that so?” he interrupted, more bitter than angry. “Given how you seem to have become closer to the Paladin than anyone ever has over the last couple of weeks, I find that hard to believe.”

At that the Knight raised a brow, weariness washing over her features. She shook her head exhaustedly, pulling the scarf down from her face.

“Look Sir, the Paladin is my mentor and I owe him for teaching me a lot of what I know and introducing me to the Brotherhood. While it’s true we’re close friends, our relationship has always been strictly professional. All I ask is for you to keep that in mind before you say anything in the lines of overstepping my boundaries.”

Maxson _was_ taken aback by her reply. He knew that she and the Paladin understandably had a strong bond from their time together, but he’d never thought about them as anything more than companions. Although he could see how others on the Prydwen could, even seen the looks a couple of the newer Initiates and Knights threw at the two of them that almost made him want to throw them out of the damn ship. And if he knew Grace Bellamy, the fate of the poor sods would be ten times more painful if it was up to her, so she was probably more than used to giving such a response.

“No.. No, it’s.. not about that,” he sighed, feeling one of the knots in his chest untangle as he began a slow pace across the room. “Proctor Quinlan was looking into the data you retrieved from the Institute and found a list of all the synths that went missing from their facility. After further analysis we discovered something.. Unprecedented. The data you brought back included a record of each subject’s DNA. We keep the same information on file for all of our soldiers.”

He was standing right beside the Knight now, and he noticed just how quiet the room had become save for her soft breathing. A moment had went by before he opened his eyes again to look up to her. The colour on her face was gone.

“Paladin Danse’s DNA is a perfect match for a synth they called M7-97.”

 “No.” she breathed. He watched as she stepped back, her brows furrowed, lines and cracks that never belonged there.

“No, this can’t be right. The information must be faulty. You.. You have to tell them to check it again. Arthur, he’s _Brotherhood_. I _know_ him. This _isn’t_ right.”

The one remaining know in Maxson’s chest snapped loose, and he held her.

“It’s true. Proctor Quinlan went over the reports multiple times and couldn’t find any other conclusion. You know he wouldn’t have told me if he wasn’t one hundred percent certain of it.” She was looking at nowhere, disbelief washing over her features, shaking her head. But he felt her shift and hold him back. There was no way she could have known. Probably the poor bastard himself was oblivious to the truth until this moment. He hesitated before laying his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Grace. We both know what this means.”

Her sigh was rattled. “It’s just..” she shook her head, “I had no idea. He never told me anything. I doubt he even knew.”

Maxson nodded at their mirrored thoughts, “It’s highly probable he had his memory wiped before infiltrating into the Brotherhood’s ranks, as most of the other synths are reported to have done so. But.. dread got the better of me. Thought he might have forced its lies onto you, _spied_ on you, _hurt_ you.” The thought of that was _painful,_ of what would have happened if it was too late when they found out. What _could_ have happened? Nothing? He looked into her eyes. Everything?

He had met Danse when Arthur was little more than a boy. Saw him climb up to the rank of Paladin to be one of the most respected men in the entire outfit. One he trusted with his life. Maybe even more than most. And he couldn’t help but notice he _still_ referred to the synth as _him_. It was as if that man was gone forever, but he refused to dishonour his memory. The unspoken order laid heavy between them.

“No,” she assured him without hesitation, “there was no way you could have known. I… It’s alright.”

She reached for his hand on her shoulder, Arthur could feel the cold seeping through the fabric. The colour had returned to her face, and her nose, he remarked, but the lines were still there. What was she _thinking_? He traced her gaze to a spot behind his arm. She nodded warily at herself first, then after a moment of thought, nodded again, determined. He felt relief wash over him when she finally looked at him again. The lines were gone, and only the unmistakeable spark in her eyes remained.

“Where is he now?”

 “He’s gone AWOL,” he cleared his throat, “vanished before we could apprehend him. Proctor Quinlan will have more information. He’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

“I’ll see him right away.”

They stood for a moment in each other’s arms before the Knight sighed back into her rank and stepped back, their entwined hand sliding down to their side. She gently swayed backwards to slip away, but Maxson’s hold stayed firm.

“Grace.” The knot was back in his throat, but he forced it away. “Are you sure about this? You don’t have to face this alone.”

“No. I have to.  We can’t know what he could do if I didn’t go alone. We can’t risk that.”

“I’m already risking you. Let me..-”

“Arthur,” she looked up at him. He knew that look by heart by now. Brows raised, left one higher than the other, head tilted slightly to the side and that same defiant spark in her eyes. He called it, ‘ _you-know-I’m-right-and-I-dare-you-to-do-something-about-it’_.

“He’ll know exactly where the order came from, and if you come with me, it can only go downhill from there. And I’d rather not be stuck outside the Prydwen and cleaning the hull for the rest of my days if anything happens to you.”

“That’s hardly what-..”

“Arthur, it’s Captain Kells.”

Maxson huffed, clearly unconvinced, but resigned. He doubted she’d even let him object. Admittedly he adored that about her. “Alright. But afterwards, you are to come back and report to me immediately.”

“Affirmative.” The Knight said softly, the corner of her mouth finally quirked up, and she was quickly pulled forward for a kiss when she tried to slip away. Only when both of their eyes were hazy and their heads pleasantly numb the Elder allowed themselves to separate.

Knight Bellamy was about to walk out the door when, God knows for whatever reason now, she heard the low huff of a chuckle behind her. She whirled back to see Maxson looking at her sheepishly with his arms behind his back. She crinkled her nose and lifted her arms incredulously, which only made Arthur grin wider.

“What? What, what is it?”

He glanced away, attempting to hide the grin behind pursed his lips. He cleared his throat mock-seriously and pointed at a spot at the crook of his neck, shaking his finger.

How does she even _do_ these faces. She was scrunching up her face now, clearly _very_ frustrated and dangerous.

“I. Honestly. Can _not-…_ Oh.” She didn’t need to look at her reflection to feel how that sore spot looked right where her uniform ended. She struggled with her scarf for a good minute. Neither of them were exactly sure how they managed not to laugh despite everything. He wondered if he could ever be himself without her again.

“Oh I’m sorry,” he leaned forward, clearly very offended, “You don’t remember? Oh but I remember _perfectly_.” He raised his head triumphantly when her cheeks were red again. “Although rest assured, that was the best birthday gift I have ever received.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Come back safe, Knight.”

“Sir.” She sighed, smiling sadly to herself as she closed the door behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> Grace's dangerous look definitely inspired by Emma Watson's dangerous rabbit look. Let me know if you want to see more of these two!


End file.
